They played another one of those routine football games Sunday at Ford Field.

You know, in which the team turning the ball over four times won, and the team not turning it over at all lost.

Just another game in which a receiver caught 14 passes for 329 yards, and a quarterback moved his team 80 yards in 50 seconds for the game-winning touchdown on a QB sneak, which was disguised as clocking the football.

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In truth, you will go your whole life and not see a game quite like the Lions’ improbable 31-30 come-from-behind victory over the Dallas Cowboys.

There were a lot of bends - as many downs as ups for the mistake-prone Lions. Yet, it ultimately turned the Lions’ way, which was the sweetest twist of all for Lions’ fans, who have come to expect the worst.

It was not a mistake. The Lions weren’t lucky. Their defense held them in the game, and they took advantage of it at the end because they have two extraordinary players, quarterback Matthew Stafford and wide receiver Calvin Johnson.

They made huge plays – Joe Montana and Jerry Rice type of plays.

And it could not have been more meaningful. It was a crossroad game for the Lions. A loss, and they would have been 4-4 - the same record they had last season before they lost eight straight games.

It was a conference game. One of the first tiebreakers to decide whether one team or another gets into the NFL playoffs is head-to-head games, another is record in the NFC. Dallas was 4-3 coming into this game. The Lions got an edge on the Cowboys – and a couple other teams – in their quest to make the playoffs for the second time in three years.

There was also an enormous psychological uplift coming with this victory, knowing the Lions rebounded after losing a similar game at home last week vs. Cincinnati, and understanding they have a bye week to rest and recover from numerous injuries before going to Chicago Nov. 10.

It’s all because the Lions’ turned what appeared to be a horrible loss into a special moment with several flicks of Stafford’s arm and a decision to fake like he was spiking the ball before sneaking into destiny.

The Lions got the ball back with 62 seconds left. The Cowboys had just kicked a field goal to go up by six. The Lions’ previous drive had ended in four downs. The game appeared over. The Lions had used all their timeouts.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Stafford said. “It’s not like I was sitting there comfortable in my boots and thinking ‘Here we go. We’ve got no timeouts and 80 yards to go against that defense.’ There’s always a chance. Our guys believed, battled and made some great catches.

“We won the game. That’s all that matters now.”

Stafford had a terrible interception earlier in the game. Dallas linebacker Sean Lee picked off his pass by squatting on a short route. It was something Stafford should have recognized, but didn’t.

Johnson lost a fumble after one catch, and had an interception swiped right off his hands by Lee.

“We didn’t make it easy on ourselves,” Lions head coach Jim Schwartz said.

The headlines will go to Johnson and Stafford – as they should.

They are special players, who did special things Sunday.

In reality, it was the Lions’ defense which won this football game.

It held Dallas to under 300 yards. It stopped the Cowboys late in the game, allowing the Lions to get the ball back to the offense.

“We put our defense in a bad spot,” Stafford said. “They did a great job of bailing us out. Our defense kept throwing threes and zeros and we kept turning the ball over.”

It was the type of game which can make more than day.

It can make a season.

There is still half the season remaining, but it so much more promising, not only because the Lions won Sunday, but how.

It thrilling and enthralling and compelling.

And undeniably important.

About the Author

Pat Caputo has written as a beat writer and sports columnist for The Oakland Press since 1984 and blogs at http://patcaputo.blogspot.com/. Reach the author at pat.caputo@oakpress.com
or follow Pat on Twitter: @PatCaputo98.